Theater Review: 'Book of Mormon' entertains by pushing limits

The National Touring Production of "The Book of Mormon" has arrived at the Boston Opera House exactly as advertised - exuberant, at times very clever and funny, often incredibly disgusting, and sacrilegious, especially if you’re a devout Mormon, or even a person of faith.

The National Touring Production of "The Book of Mormon" has arrived at the Boston Opera House exactly as advertised - exuberant, at times very clever and funny, often incredibly disgusting, and sacrilegious, especially if you’re a devout Mormon, or even a person of faith.

None of this should be unexpected by anyone’s who’s familiar with the creators of the show - Trey Parker, Robert Lopez and Matt Stone. Parker and Stone are creators of the animated television show "South Park," which, according to fans, makes "Book of Mormon" seem tame by comparison. And Lopez wrote the music for "Avenue Q."

Audiences tend to come away from "Book of Mormon" feeling they’ve had an out-of-body musical experience or that they’ve been offended and let down. For the record, it’s possible to land somewhere in between. The show could probably serve as a kind of Rorschach test on where people stand in terms of pop culture.

It’s as if the creators asked themselves what three elements could we combine that people could never imagine together. They came up with Mormonism, a splashy, joyous Broadway musical, and the most troubled corner of Africa.

They also seemed to reason that if they kept things energetic and upbeat enough that they could get away with pushing the limits of offensiveness, and audiences would love it.

Early in the show, a group of young Mormon men are paired for their mission assignments and told where they are going. The handsome Elder Price, who everyone thinks is the most likely to succeed, is paired with the pudgy Elder Cunningham, who’s still a kid at heart and never had any real friends. Now Cunningham thinks he has a friend for life. Unlike the others, they aren’t assigned to countries like Norway or Japan, but Uganda.

There are a number of funny moments that are relatively innocent. Elder Price sings about wishing he were assigned to Orlando, as in Disney World. In a goodbye scene, at the airport, a woman in a costume straight out of "Lion King" sings a farewell song and then says, "I’ve never been to Africa, but I’m sure it’s a hoot." Well, not exactly.

It’s a shock to the young men’s system, and ours, too, when they are robbed at gunpoint and meet a village of Africans joyously chanting a very obscene line to God. A village doctor shouts out a horrifying and painful condition involving his genitals that he has and does so occasionally throughout the show. This may not seem funny to everyone.

Elders Price and Cunningham join other Mormon missionaries in the village, and together they sing and dance one of the best musical numbers of the show, a terrific satire of superficial religion, "Turn It Off," as in "like a light switch just go click," if you’re experiencing feelings or anything you don’t like.

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The band of Mormon missionaries have conducted zero baptisms and face the threat of a horrific warlord, determined to circumcise all women. We soon see that the self-absorbed, superficially perfect Elder Price is far less suited for troubled Africa than the less well put-together but much more human Elder Cunningham. It’s one thing you can actually take away from the show, beside some good laughs and deep shudders.

Eventually Elder Cunningham discovers he can stop some awful and violent behavior by reinventing Mormon history to make it more relevant to the Africans’ lives. It makes Elder Cunningham seem creative and likeable. But it also tends to imply that all religion is just a myth anyway.

Samantha Marie Ware has a charming and commanding stage presence along with a beautiful voice as Nabulungi, the African woman who responds most readily to Elder Cunningham’s proselytizing. Christopher John O’Neill is lovable as the geeky Elder Cunningham. And Mark Evans is appropriately off-putting as the "perfect" Elder Price, who finds himself in a "spooky Mormon hell dream."

Casey Nicholaw’s sizzling choreography is one of the hits of the show.

If the show’s raunchiness seems like all part of the fun to you, you’ll probably have a good time. And if you can set aside the fact that someone’s religion, probably not yours, is being mocked and that human suffering, including AIDS and women at risk of genital mutilation, is the source or backdrop for humor, you’ll probably have a great time. But if some of that doesn’t sit quite right with you, you might want to consider whether this show is for you.